Sunday, June 30, 2013

I can't describe you enough how amazed I am with the simple thing called the pool noodle. One thing, various possibilities - is there a better craft material? Especially when it comes to children crafts and kids summer fun.

Here's what we have been doing lately with his majesty The Pool Noodle:

1. A Backyard target

Originally, I found the idea here (it reminds me of the Olympic rings, doesn't it?) and it was the moment when I fell in love to the homemade toys. So simple, while ingenious and impossible to buy in a store.

I connected them by using a duct tape, and added some support poles, one on each side.

The initial idea was to make them standing upright, but it did not really work, so we made a little different and a simpler target, which we hung on a flower rack. In this case, we connected the rings with a piece of string, which is more durable than a duct tape.

2. A jumping game

When we decided that our target still can not stand alone, my girls came up with a new game:

3. Jolly rings

When we finally disassembled the target station , girls came up with another game, that just reminded me of a stacker baby toy.

4. Storage for balls

This is something the girls also thought of. The Younger was really entertained for a while inserting the balls inside and then again out.

Actually the best part of the story is how you can just give this toy to a child and a child will instantly find dozens of ways to play. Of course, The Younger had to taste them, but quickly concluded that they are not delicious, and gave up snacking.

Opportunities with the noodles are indeed many, believe it or not, you can even use them as a bed rail.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

I recently read a great (though shocking) book "The Kite Runner," in which, among other things, talks about how the kite flying is the national sport in Afghanistan.

I would not say that kite flying is a national sport in my country but it sure is fun. Since last year I could not find a kite in the shops (whether because it is popular so it was sold out or maybe because it is not popular, so the shops don't offer kites - it's hard to tell), I decided to try to do something myself.

Instead of dowels, I used the parts of these old eating pads (I do not recommend buying these, they are very difficult to clean).

I've cut a longer and a shorter stick and pasted them with some "super glue." According to the dimensions of crossed sticks, I've cut out diamond shape out of plastic bags and attached it to the sticks (I used crepe tape).

I tied a piece of string at the longer stick and there it was, our kite was all set for flying!

We repeated the whole process once again (probably you've noticed the two different samples at the photos), to avoid sibling-fights, so that each of my girls can have her own kite. Who ever has got two children, knows what I'm talking about.

After the extreme heat, we finally have some mild wind here, so we quickly tried our kites. The girls enjoyed the preparation and in the right wind, the kites were happily flapping and we had so much fun.

I am definitely happy because of the fact the kites weren't torn apart at the first wind, as I was afraid of, so I believe that we will be playing with them the entire summer.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

My girls absolutely love painting and always spend a great amount of color for their pieces of art.

So it was Sunday, they were really in an artistic mood, and we were out of watercolors and paints of any type, actually. And what will mum do, other than to explore how we can make them ourselves.

Google-Almighty featuring Pinterest The Great offered a solution in this case as well. Children friendly colors can be made in several ways, and we tried two of them:

1. Flour, salt and water + food coloring

Mix the flour salt and water in equal proportions (for example, one tablespoon) and add a few drops of food coloring (the amount depends on the intensity of the color you want to achieve).

If you store them in a plastic container with a lid, they can last for some time, especially if you keep them in a fridge. Ours did not last long, because the girls really liked them, and quickly spent the entire amount we prepared.

Pictures painted with these colors have a sparkly look after drying - it's because of the salt used in their preparation.

2. Yogurt + food coloring

Me and the girls prefer this way- I because they are really simple for preparing, and the girls because these yogurt colors leave more uniform coating.

* * *

And most important of all - the ingredients are edible (in both cases), so no problem if some color ends up in the mouth, as it usually happens with toddlers.

But I would definitely recommend this as an outdoor activity, because the amount of mess is quite huge.